As I watched the cocky little man who many call the president cascade across the ballroom floor in celebration, American forces struggled to hang on to Mosul by launching another fruitless offensive, in response to a wave of deadly car bombings that rocked Iraq. While the acting president called on Americans to be patient while he spread freedom into all the dark corners of the world, the feared terror leader Musab al-Zarqawi issued a statement to the Iraqi people, preparing them for a struggle. While Bush danced and laughed and reveled in his newly gained “political capitalâ€, the government appears more divided than anytime in recent memory, and the nation is sharply divided.
As the above poll shows, Bush holds the lowest approval rating of a re-elected president since before Eisenhower, and a strong majority of Americans feel we are headed in the wrong direction. Also, a far higher disapproval rating than any post-WW2 re-elected president, even Tricky-Dick Nixon! “No Second Honeymoon†one headline shouted. “Bush Approval Tepid at Bestâ€, spouted another. “Kerry voters have not reconciled themselves to accepting Bushâ€, said a pollster on a KCRW show, Which Way L.A. (on 1-19-05)
I thought to myself, Bush did as good a job reaching out to those who voted against him as he did to the World, when they gave him an over-whelming disapproval of the Iraq war.
I remember it like it was yesterday, Bush said he wanted to spread democracy and freedom, and then chastised the nations that didn’t go along with his brilliant Iraq plan, even though some polls showed 70-90% of the population in those nations disapproving of the Iraq war. Yeah, democracy and freedom all right, Bush’s sick and twisted version, that sounds more like aristocracy and theocracy, and often like authoritarianism and dictatorship. So when protestors in New Orleans today held a funeral for democracy, I laughed, and then felt very ill.
This morning Bush got up on stage and gave some dressed up speech about freedom, and touted his success, even though the entire expanse of his vision is resting on an unconditional victory in the Iraqi elections, which are less than 2 weeks away and looking less and less optimistic. In fact, the best realistic case scenario is a Shiite win, that will undoubtedly cause a tilting of the scales among Iraq’s 4 major ethnic groups, and Grand Ayatollah Sastani (The Shiite cleric who is playing the U.S. for fools as he uses this unrest to secure victory), recently watched his personal aide killed, and his favored politician nearly assassinated. In the rest of Iraq, Mosul, once peaceful, is becoming a war zone, Sunni Muslims are in boycott mode and the Kurds are talking about independence. Each of these scenarios becomes an increasing likely-hood daily. In other words, Iraq is all but condemned to civil war.
And where is the leadership of our country? On the news every Sunday lying through their teeth about how many schools they built. I saw on the news yesterday that insurgents in full force attacked a school, rumored to be a polling station for the upcoming election. (abcnews.com 1-20-05). You know it is sad that even the Republicans, who towed their party line about how the media never talks about all the good things in Iraq, finally shut the hell up!
So no wonder Bush is trying to prepare us for defeat in Iraq! He would have claimed all the credit if it was HIS success. Now that it is HIS failure, it suddenly becomes OUR failure. Well let me tell you something, it IS our failure! I was out there in the streets protesting Bush’s desire to go to war in Iraq from the get go. I watched the news cover 100 fur protestors as a serious news piece, while 10,000 of us marched in front of the Federal Building in Los Angeles with almost no media coverage. When we protested on Hollywood Blvd, 100,000 strong, it made a few papers, and a couple TV news stories, but it was immediately followed with the drumbeat of war, and Americans tuned it out. Colin Powell got up on the little TV and completely lied (if you read the White House endorsed book Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward, there is no doubt). After that speech, Americans went from 2/3 opposed to war in Iraq to 60/40 in favor. Powell was the loyal soldier who justified a war on shady truth, and America believed him. Sadly, all the evidence he quoted had largely been refuted in the press, America just wasn’t listening, and the news, especially Fox, simply wasn’t talking.
I may watch this stuff with interest, but I certainly did not go to any great lengths to hear all about the forged documents about Nigeria selling Uranium to Iraq. Turns out, it came from a college student here in California from one of the new radicals, a right-wing nut. America simply didn’t care, and that is why this IS OUR failure. If millions were in the streets we would have saved the lives of 1300 American soldiers, tens of thousands of Iraqi soldiers, and at least 15,000 Iraqi civilians!
Source: http://www.iraqbodycount.net
Tell me why there are still a bunch of ignorant Southerners and repubs all across this great nation that are still so naïve that they can justify killing 5 times the amount of innocent civilians killed on September 11th, all for what even the White House has admitted had nothing to do with September 11th.
The truth is, the policy of containment, signed under then president Bush and his Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, had worked. Saddam Hussein had no weapons programs that were threatening to anyone over 500 miles away from Iraq’s boarders, and Saddam knew that any such attempted attack would result in a serious strike from the United States. Hell, how could he build up his weapons programs when it was Reagan and the Russians that gave him most of it anyways!
It’s tragically funny though, when the greatest super-power in the world attacks a weak and pathetic disarmed nation, it shows how weak and insecure that super-power has become. It’s almost like we went to the hospital and beat up someone we already beat up. Yeah! That’s the way to lead the free world! Good job Bush!
If you have any complaints about Saddam still having been in power by the time Bush II got in office, blame his father, Bush I, for calling off the strike. At the advice of Colin Powell I might add. They both knew that any strike on Iraq could result in civil war, and result in a major defeat for America’s long-term strategic oil reserves, or simply, higher gas prices and less oil.
Clinton actually tried to beat the drums of war, but realized he could not do it with out compromising the balance of peace and prosperity that truly existed at the end of the 20th century, now just a distant memory.
So this current genius, Bush part II—THE REVENGE, got into office and started making over the world like some god-awful reality show. The end result is a weaker dollar, a divided nation, a rising death toll, and an angry world that is less likely to purchase American goods.
Now our amazing leader decides to give a speech, underlining all the things that didn’t happen because of his failure. We are supposed to rally to his side, and forgive him for causing so much death and destruction. We are supposed to be committed to his next war, or the one after that. Let’s forgive ol’ Bush Jr. He isn’t the son of wealthy Senator who made his fortune in oil. He’s a good ol’ blue collar Southerner, even though he was born in Connecticut, and his dad considers Maine his number one vacation spot, (remember old Kennebunkport? It’s right down the coast from the Kennedy’s retreat). Ever wonder why you never see Bush on a horse? Lord knows he probably tried to ride one (after all Reagan did).
What I love about this inaugural speech is that he spoke of putting aside arrogance and tried to focus on all the good human natured ideals he probably thinks he projects. With all this administration has done without listening to anyone but themselves, (including Bush’s own father, who was rumored to be leaning on his son to avoid going to war without the UN) what could be more arrogant?!
Some former Reagan speechwriter had the nerve to say (on NPR’s Inauguration coverage 1-20-05), that Bush’s speech is a warning signal to all U.S. allies like Pakistan and even the Saudi family. He even advised the NPR staff to get Prince whatever’s reaction. Yeah, I thought, go send a team of reporters out to Saudi Arabia right now to talk to the Saudi Royal Family, whom just so happen to be good friends and customers of the Bush and Cheney families, oh yeah, and the Carlyle Group. Oh No! Better run Saudis, cousin George Bush is coming for you!
HA! If the Republicans are getting this desperate then you KNOW they are through.
This administration is a walking hypocrisy in the truest sense of the word.
Bush is a religious zealot who talks to God, but rarely goes to church, an arrogant unilateral leader who says we don’t need the world, then realizes that we do and then extends a hand after the fact, a mind-changing flip flopper who calls his opponent the same. Then Bush has the nerve to call his opponents politicians. Bush grew up in politics, and is a marvelous politician. Sadly however, he is a very poor president.
Suddenly it all made sense, the way he ignored California in the wake of our horrible firestorms of 2003, and even ignored Arnold’s federal request for help, all because we overwhelmingly rejected him in 2000. He is a man that is motivated by revenge and obvious opportunity: like his photo-ops passing water out to hurricane survivors in Florida, or holding the plastic turkey out to troops in a pre-election Thanksgiving. There was no turkey, real or fake, after the election, or water passed out to flood victims in any state, red or blue.
The following link contains 30 major Bush Flip-Flops: It contains everything from his general original opposition to nation-building, like Iraq, to his promise of not spending Social-Security trust fund dollars and his subsequent binge spending that forced the elimination of such a fund.
Curiously Flip-Floppin George
Bush promised to restore integrity to the White House, all he really did was resurrect Richard Nixon. In fact, former Nixon legal counsel, Richard Dean, called Bush even more secretive than Nixon:
Tricky Dick was less Tricky!
I don’t know about you, but I am tired of these divisive, arrogant hypocrites. If the opportunity arises, I will support Bush’s impeachment, (which is a very realistic scenario). If not, then I am perfectly willing to sit and watch this god-sent destroy the Republican party brick by brick. After all, it takes a Herbert Hoover to show Americans that Republicans only represent the top 1% of not just America, but anyone with money, including the Saudis, rich authoritarian regimes in South America, Musaraf in Pakistan, Uzbekistan’s oil selling regime, China’s miserable human rights and communism, Kuwait, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Yemen, Libya (no, I am not joking) and the rest of the oil rich countries with U.S. backed warlords and tyrants.
What the hell! Progressives are called lefties even though a Republican, Theodore Roosevelt, founded the Progressive Party!
It’s time America stopped playing war all over the globe, pull back those 500+ military bases located all over the globe, and start focusing on a nation truly worthy of attention… These United States!